A letter from Sadegh Sepehri in Germany
May 4, 2006
Iranians all over Europe
After the revolution in Iran in 1979, many Iranians for different reasons could not stay in Iran. Wherever you go around the world, you find them, especially in Europe. Before the revolution, a lot of missionaries from different countries and different churches were active in Iran. But after the Islamic revolution missionary work came to an end, and the doors were closed. But the word of God cannot be stopped. Now, instead of missionaries going to Iran, Iranians now live among the missionaries.
Europe has become a fertile ground for sowing seeds in God’s fields. In Europe we have freedom, and so nobody will stop us from evangelizing. Now is the time for the work that God has prepared for us. I give thanks to God that even though I left my country, which I loved dearly and where I loved serving my brothers and sisters, He gave me the opportunity to to serve them here.
It is now about 17 years since I left home. With God’s help and the support of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I have been able to travel to different countries and visit thousands of Iranians and preach the gospel to them. The result was more than 400 baptisms.
One of the opportunities to reach out to Iranians is in Hungary. About two years ago, we heard that many Iranians were going there to seek for asylum. So we (Aziz Sadaghiani, a PC(USA) colleague, and I) went there. Together with the Reverend Kathy Angi, another PC(USA) missionary in Hungry, we visited most of the Iranians in Hungary, gave them Christian books, and arranged some Bible studies. As a result, seven people were baptized last year and three more were baptized recently.
Mr. D and his wife Mrs. M, along with their daughter, Miss A, were attending our Bible studies and baptism classes for the last two years. They finally opened their hearts to Jesus. On our last trip to Budapest, on April 23, they were baptized. They came to Hungary about three years ago and were accepted as refugees. They are attending special courses and are working hard to learn the language. Mr. D says that knowing Jesus has been a blessing for their family, and now they are very happy.
Recently brother Azia and I spent five days in Hungary visiting several Iranian families in Budapest and in Debrecen. We have built a good relations with these families, so when they hear we are going to visit, they are glad, and sometimes they try to stop us from going back to Germany so we can spend more time with them. They open their homes to us warmly, and it’s like a father visiting his children.
Please continue to pray for Iranians who are scattered in all over the world, that they would have opportunities to hear the word of love and salvation and be able to have a good relationship with our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. And pray that God would give us enough strength to be able to reach these people, since we are the only PC(USA) mission workers among Iranians in Europe.
Rev. Sadegh Sepehri
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 178
